Hero's Duty
by Citrinewarrior
Summary: Vanellope's birthday is in three days, and she's playing a dangerous game this year. THERE IS NO PAIRING IN THIS FANFICTION BECAUSE RALPH AND VANELLOPE ARE JUST FRIENDS.
1. I Wanna Play A Game

"Vanellope?" Ralph asked. He was looking for her and it was pitch black in the castle. The sun would come up soon, and he had to be back in his game, so he wanted to visit her before then.

"Ralph, you're silly! I've been up here the whole time!" Sure enough, Vanellope was hanging from a twizzler on the ceiling.

"Come on down then!" Ralph called to her.

"Yeah right! If you Wanna talk you're gonna have to get me down!" She said.

"Alright." Ralph took the staircase to the second floor and tried to reach her from there. After a few tries, he grabbed the twizzler from the ceiling and Vanellope with it.

"Thanks." She said.

"No prob." Ralph replied, grinning. Just then, a cunning plan popped into Vanellope's head. Ralph could tell because of the mischievous grin she now wore.

"My birthday is in three days." She said simply.

"You're turning nine, right?" Ralph asked.

"Yeah. What are you gonna get me?"

Ralph scratched his head with one meaty arm. "I dunno...whatever you asked me to, I guess."

"What if what I wanted was an experience, rather than an item?"

"What experience?" Ralph asked.

"I wanna play a video game." She said simply.

"Which one?" Ralph asked again. She was confusing him now.

"You promise you'll let me play it if I tell you?" She asked, trying to conceal her motive by not saying the name of the game. She then made puppy-dog eyes at him-_ just to make sure he would say yes._

"S-Sure." Ralph agreed quickly. He melted under the pressure of the puppy-dog eyes.

"I wanna play Hero's Duty!" She said excitedly. Ralph was startled by his little friend's request.

"Oh, no no no. You are _WAY _too young to play Hero's Duty!"

"Aw, come on Ralph!" She wheedled. "You promised!"

"B-But that isn't child's play! You could get seriously hurt! Remember, those Cybugs only know how to kill, eat, and multiply! You'd be eaten alive! Plus, Sergeant Calhoun very much loves to use the _eleven words you should never say!_ And remember what Sonic told you: If you die outside of your game, you DO NOT REGENERATE!"

"Don't worry about it, Ralph. If worse comes to worse, I glitch out and everything's hunky-dory!" She quelled, but this did little to ease Ralph's worry.

"You don't know that, Vanellope! We're only positive that it works in Sugar Rush and I am not taking chances!" He said. He probably sounded mean, but he was only concerned for her safety.

Vanellope grinned a sly grin. "Well, then It's too bad you promised." She said, countering everything he had said.

"Now get going! The arcade's gonna open soon!"


	2. But Maybe I Shouldn't

Ralph had spent the next day worried about the conversation he'd had with Vanellope the night before. If she went into that game and got hurt, he wouldn't know what to do with himself! He had to get it into her head that she _could not _go into that game. A pang of guilt surged through him, enough so that he couldn't smash windows as well and Felix Jr. won the game easily. Felix came by a few minutes after the last game of the day was played.

"Ralph, are you feeling...okay?" He asked.

"Yeah." Ralph replied, standing from his easy chair. "I just...really need to talk to someone." He walked away towards Game Central Station.

Vanellope had thought long and hard about the conversation she'd had with Ralph as well. She was napping on a bench in Game Central Station. She had now found the place to be very comforting when she needed to think. Her mind wandered everywhere, from Ralph to her racing kart that she had made with Ralph when they had made their Deal. However, with all these thoughts racing around in her head, he soon fell into a doze on the bench.

"_Ralph! Help!" She screamed. A Cybug had torn her protection suit in half and was now chasing her, trying to eat her. Ralph tried to reach her, but more Cybugs barraged him, leaving Vanellope to fend for herself. She ran harder as her screaming had caught the attention of two more Cybugs. She was getting tired now, but the Cybugs were just as relentless and they were catching up! She couldn't run anymore, her only option was to try Glitching. She focused as hard as she could, but when the command was uttered, no glitch came, and the Cybugs quickly caught her and one swallowed her, her screams lost down the insect's throat. The last thing she heard was Ralph yelling for her._

"_Vanellope! No!" He screamed, before the Cybugs made a feast of him as well. _

She woke up screaming, but soon realized she wasn't where she was when she had fallen asleep. She was in Sugar Rush, but not the castle. Upon further research, she discovered that she was lying on a large marshmallow, beside her lovable stink-brained friend Ralph.

"Ralph? Are you awake?" She asked.

"Yup. I wanted to stay for a bit to make sure you were alright. I found you down in Game Central Station." Ralph replied, sitting up. Vanellope sat up as well, sitting in his lap and looking up at him.

"Ralph, why don't you want me playing Hero's Duty?" She asked him, prepared for a stink-brained answer.

"To be blunt, you are part of a racing game and Hero's Duty is a first person shooter." Vanellope was right. That really was a stink-brained answer.

"But you did it! You know, to get your medal!" Vanellope protested. What, did he think he was better than her or something?

"I almost got killed, and I am not going in there, nor am I letting you go in there!" Ralph was getting frantic; she seemed dead set on doing this.

"Besides, if worse comes to worse, I am going without you and that is final." She said. The sun was coming up now. Ralph arose from the marshmallow, his last option to keep her from going into that game: calling her bluff. He started walking to the exit to Sugar Rush calling to her as he did.

"Of course, a sweet little girl like you wouldn't even do it, what was I thinking?" He said loudly. Vanellope detected instantly that he was using a last resort, but his words made her think a bit. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all... But wait! This was going around in circles! She couldn't decide whether she wanted to go or not now, and they had had this argument twice now...But she wouldn't give him the benefit of the doubt. She would play her cards wise.

"Fine...I won't go if you don't want me to." She conceded. Ralph froze. Did that really just work?


End file.
